


Television Hearts

by SphinxHail



Category: Original Work
Genre: Creepy, F/M, Human/Monster Romance, Love, Monster - Freeform, Monster Romance, Monsters, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance, chef
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24068494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SphinxHail/pseuds/SphinxHail
Summary: When Ruth gets a text regarding a creepy ritual, she expects it to be a hoax. What she gets however, is much different, and she might just want to spend the rest of her life with it.
Relationships: Original Character & Original Character
Kudos: 8





	Television Hearts

Ruth snuggled next to Chef, holding his body close as she relaxed. She rubbed her head against his chest, feeling the strangely smooth texture of his warm skin. If someone had asked her a year ago about dating a being like this, she would have laughed and thought it a joke. Here she was now though, cuddled up next to what could only be described as a monster.

She opened her eyes to look at her partner’s humanoid form. Chef was taller than a standard human, his legs dangling off the end of the bed like a ragdoll’s. His skin was beyond a pale white with patches of green colorations scattered about its canvas. She ran her hand along his arm and sighed calmly. 

Right now, Chef gazed at her. “ _ Maybe he’s wondering how he fell for a human _ .” Ruth thought. 

She smiled at him, and he opened his jaw slightly, revealing a row of sharp, interconnected teeth. He was returning her expression the best he could. Ruth chuckled to herself, then closed her eyes again and nuzzled against him, remembering the night they had met.

* * *

Ruth sat in front of the television. She held a bowl of frosted cereal on her lap, taking spoonfuls every few minutes as her eyes stayed glued to the screen. Normally, she wouldn’t be up this late watching infomercials of all things, but there was something she was searching for within the less roamed channels of the television’s vast catalogue.

It had started with a conversation she’d had with her old friend Robby. Several years back, when they roomed in the same apartment, one of their favorite past-times, besides casual gaming, was debunking paranormal rituals they’d found online. It was good fun, and it helped Ruth get over more than enough childhood fears. She remembered screaming at nothing when they tried to summon a ghost from their mirror to no avail, and it made her chuckle.

It had been years since they’d drifted apart, mostly thanks to Robby moving all the way out to LA. Ruth hadn’t heard anything from him in quite some time since then, that was until just one night ago when she’d gotten a very peculiar text.

“Hey Ruth! It’s been a while,” His message had read simply at first. Then, just like the excitable Robby she remembered, he dropped his usual superfluous info, “I was thinking of you recently. You know, I found this new ritual. You have to wait until 4AM and then switch between channel two and three on your television.”

Ruth had been taken aback by the greeting, as well as the sudden infodump. Of course, that was just Robby being Robby. She just hadn’t been expecting it. Ruth couldn’t say she wasn’t interested though, and so she had responded with a message of her own.

“Hey Robby. You’re right, it has been a while, hasn’t it? Weird way to say hello, but that’s an interesting ritual. What’s supposed to happen?” She texted back.

There had been a few minutes pause, and then Robby responded, “You’ll find this cooking show between the channels with this creepy looking chef guy. Then he’ll show up next to you, pull you into his pocket dimension, and make you into his next meal! Creepy, right? We should try it! Oh, and hit me up on Steam for some games, okay?”

Ruth had laughed at the Robby’s ever-present excitement, but in the spirit of their friendship she had promised him that she’d try the ritual and get back to him. She had also agreed to a game of TF2, for old times sake.”

And so, here she was now, watching infomercials as the clock neared 4AM. She looked at her phone. Just one minute left. She watched the clock for what felt like an eternity. Eventually after a torturous sixty seconds, three-fifty-nine turned to four-o-clock. Ruth took the remote up and placed her bowl down. She began to flip channels from two, to three, then two again. This continued for half an hour, as the television went from infomercial to golf and back to infomercial.

At four-thirty, Ruth dropped the remote. Just as she had expected, nothing had happened. She had just lost her last drop of energy for the night as well. She smiled to herself and laid back on the couch, too exhausted to return to her bed. “Didn’t work, Robby. Just like usual.” She mumbled, falling to sleep.

As she drifted off, the television started to sputter and the game of golf on its screen was slowly overtaken by a soft static. An image began to make its way through, dispersing the mess of black and white electric sheep. A title card emerged, bright and yellow. In cheery text it read “Chef’s Surprise”.

Ruth did not awaken from her slumber as the change occurred, though the sudden jazz music caused her to turn in her sleep. Her eyes only began to open when she felt a warm breath over her face.

She looked up to see a thin humanoid head, cut through by a long toothy mouth. Two round yellow eyes gazed down at her, their pupils floating within them as if suspended in liquid. Ruth did not react. She was in a state of half sleep, wondering if what she saw was really there or just the specter of a dream.

“Why, hello there.” A jovial voice left the being’s lips as he stared at her. He tilted his head and gave a wide grin.

The fog of sleep was still surrounding Ruth’s tired mind. She looked up blankly at the monster for a moment. “You’re the chef that eats people.” She mumbled.

“Indeed.” The creature poked at a chef’s hat flopped over upon his head. Thick strands of long green hair sprouted from underneath like tentacles. He spoke again quite happily, “My name is in fact, Chef. You’ll be helping me with my show today, dear.”

“I never learned how to cook,” Ruth slurred in her daze, still out of sorts. Random thoughts shot through her mind as she tried to claw her way out of her daze. She searched for the right words to say, something that made sense. After a moment, it came to her. “I guess  _ you _ can teach me.” She said, fighting to keep her eyes open.

This seemed to perplex the monster. He stood up to his full height, staring down at the tiny human below him. His hat brushed the ceiling. “You flatter me. Why, I’d be simply honored to show you my skill. A human should be blessed to know of my expertise at least once in their lifetime.” He placed a clawed hand to his chest. 

By now, Ruth was starting to awaken. Her eyes widened at the sight of the beast standing overtop her. She stammered as her mouth went agape in shock.

Chef was still speaking. “I do have a little time before I have to start the show. I’ll teach you something a bit easier, just to start.” He reached out with a clawed hand. “Well?”

Ruth blinked, then without thinking began to give him her hand. Perhaps it was out of fear, or maybe it was her well taught manners, but soon he was helping her up off of the couch and leading her over to her own kitchen.

“Let’s see,” Chef thought aloud as he began to search through her drawers and cabinets, “We have some pans, some pots, a few ingredients. Ah! Eggs! Perfect.”

“Um…” Ruth started to speak, but couldn’t finish.

“You know, I’m surprised a human in their-“ Chef turned and lowered down to sniff Ruth, “Yes, in their twenties doesn’t know how to cook for themselves. How have you survived this long? Please tell me you haven’t eaten microwave dinners, or worse- fast food.” He seemed to shudder at that. “Either way, you deserve something a little special before your big day, hm?”

Ruth moved closer to see what Chef was doing. He had a pan and a few eggs out. With a tap of his claw on the shells, he had them cleanly open and their yolks drained out. He shoved the remains of their exteriors into his gullet and swallowed them down whole.

“Now, put these on the stovetop will you? I already turned it on.” Chef handed Ruth the pan.

She looked at it and shook nervously, moving to place it on the stove. In her nervousness to do so, she lost her balance, tripping over her own feet in a flurry of movement. She flailed as she fell toward the reddening stove, face first. The pan flew into the air, eggs taking off from its metallic surface.

Ruth closed her eyes as she felt her body fall, placing an arm in front of her face to defend it from burning. She braced herself for the sting of pain, but it never came. Instead, she felt herself suddenly rise from the ground, one of Chef’s arms wrapped around her.

“Careful now! You could have ended up fried.” He warned her. “Are you alright?”

Opening her eyes, Ruth looked up at Chef’s face. As she gazed into his glowing yellow eyes, she felt an odd fluttering within her belly. It made her whole body shiver with an emotion she couldn’t pin down.

Chef sniffed the air. “What is that, human? What are you giving off?” He held her closer as his nostrils flared, “That’s not fear I smell. Could it be…” He trailed off, then placed Ruth back down.

“I uh, I’m sorry sir.” Ruth managed to utter. 

“Oh, it’s quite alright. I thought maybe you were just strong, holding your composure so well around me, even if a bit clumsy.” Chef lowered himself down to her height. He reached out a hand to her face, “May I?”

“Um…” Ruth thought a moment, then felt her stomach fluttering once more. It was as if she’d been invaded by an army of hummingbirds. “Yes. You uh, you can.”

Chef nodded and ran his claws gently across her neck. She shuddered again, and he smiled lightly, then moved his fingers along her cheek. There was a slight blush appearing on her face.

“How cute.” Chef chuckled. He retracted his hand and began to clean the mess. “How about we start again, hm? I think I’ll save my show for another day. It’s time to teach you some kitchen safety.”

* * *

Ruth opened her eyes again and looked up at Chef. He was asleep now, snoring lightly. His legs twitched now and then, and Ruth wondered what he was dreaming about. His eyes were still open. He didn’t have eyelids. Instead, a translucent film was covering his orbs.

“Chef?” Ruth whispered, crawling closer to his face.

“Hrm…?” The monster grunted. One of his pupils focused on her.

“I was just remembering the night we met.” She told him, “Do you remember?”

“Yes, yes I do. Why?” 

“You said you smelled something on me that night.” She said, “What was it?”

Chef gave a slight chuckle, “You really don’t know?”

“No, I mean maybe. I just wanted to hear it from you.” 

“Well, at the time I had never scented it from a human before. I’d smelled fear, sometimes anger or sadness, but never what you gave off that night.” Chef explained, “But, I took a gander and I was right. It was attraction, or should I say love. Humans give off certain pheromones you see.”

“That’s why you didn’t um… yeah.” Ruth looked away for a moment.

“Yes. I wasn’t sure what to do at first, but I suppose I found it rather cute.” Chef reached out, ruffling Ruth’s hair.

“Thanks.” She said with a smile. “I think you’re cute too.”

“Good. Now, I know I don’t sleep much, but tonight I think I’d like to have a little rest if you don’t mind.” Chef yawned as he spoke. He pulled Ruth in close and held her to his chest. “One day, I will take you back to my world. There will be… so much to see...” He said, trailing off as he fell back to sleep.

Ruth closed her eyes too. “Sounds good, Chef. Sounds good.”


End file.
